Beside the rolling review of the pre production sample of the SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE that you can read here, I decided to focus on a Leica Noctilux 0.95 ASPH - HyperPrime CINE T0.95 - Summilux 50/1.4 ASPH comparison in this particular article. So if you you want to get some general information about the CINE T0.95, please read the rolling review first.

This comparison was taken unter soft "available light" conditions as this may probably be the main situation where you will use such a fast prime lens as well. It will be followed by comparisons under different lighting conditions as well. I compared the CINE with the Leica Noctilux 50/0.95 ASPH and the
Leica Summilux 50/1.4 ASPH. On the NEX-7 I compared to the Sony SEL 50F18 (50mm
F/1.8 OSS) as well and on the GH2 additionally to the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm
F/1.8.

The images were taken from a tripod, the shutter was remotely
triggered. Focus was set on the hairs of the brush. The RAWs were developed with ACR'Adobe Camera Raw 6.6 with identical settings, only white
balance was adjusted a little bit seperately. Due to the slighty different focal length (the Leica seems to have
about 52mm), the camera was tilted a little bit in order to still keep the bottom
of the picture at the green "gras". The result was that the focus,
that was always adjusted to the brush's hair, is a little bit
shifted at the bottom.

First let us have a look at the pictures taken with the Panasonic Lumix GH2 (MicroFourThirds sensor with crop factor 2):

Leica Noctilux @F0.95:

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SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE @ T0.95 (F0.92):

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Leica Noctilux @ F1.4:

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SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE @ T1.4:

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Leica Summilux @ F1.4:

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Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm/1.8 @ F1.8:

(Click for other sizes)

So, after looking at the pictures from the GH2, the T0.95 CINE looks better to me:

GH2 - F0.95 / T0.95:

Sharpness of the CINE at open aperture is at least as good as
from the Nocti, I would say even a little bit better

Contrast is compareable

Noctilux produces significant purple fringing and some CA on the GH2. The
CINE T0.95 only a little

Bokeh is a bit different: The circles of confusion of
the CINE have some outlines, the circles of
the Noctilux have smoother borders but a little bit "onion
rings" inside. I would value the bokeh comparable in total.

With the CINE the camera's exposure automatic
choosed 1/100s, with the Nocti 1/80s, so there is a transmission advantage for the CINE T0.95 already at the mFT crop

GH2 - F1.4/T1.4:

Purple frings dissappear also at the Noctilux but there are
still CAs at the metallic parts (brush, wire ball)

Sharpness on par for both, Summilx a little bit behind but
still very good.

Regarding bokeh the CINE has a big advantage now: The circles
of confusion are still perfectly round whereas the Nocti shows
already some edges. The bokeh of the CINE also looks smoother
than from the Summilux.

Contrast of Nocti is much better than from the CINE. The CINE
picture looks soft (although sharpness is good).

Nocti produces much more purple fringing and CA than the CINE
but less extreme than on the GH2.

Bokeh is a little bit different (the circles of confusion of
the CINE have some kind of ring at the borders, the circles of
the Noctilux have smoother borders but a little bit "onion
rings" inside). I would say in total, both have a very good
bokeh.

The cameras were set to time automatic with 0.3 EV raised
exposure due to the bright background. With the CINE the camera
choosed 1/160s, with the Nocti 1/125s, so transmission seems to
be better with the CINE.

NEX-7 - F1.4/T1.4:

Purple frings dissappear also at the Noctilux but there are
still CAs at the metallic parts (brush, wire ball)

Contrast of the Noctilux is still significantly better than of
th CINE

Sharpness on par for both, Summilx a little bit behind but
still very good.

Regarding bokeh the CINE has a big advantage now: The circles
of confusion are still perfectly round whereas the Nocti shows
already some edges. THe bokeh of the CINE also looks smoother
than from the Summilux.

Conclusion so far:

In this test setup (that was repeated two times) the HyperPrime CINE T0.95 performed better than the Noctilux on the GH2 in almost every aspect (if you do not care for size and weight...). At the NEX-7 there was an issue in this setup with contrast at open aperture which I can not explain so far. My assumption is that the surface condition of the camera sensor plays a role for purple fringing as well as for lower contrast that may be caused in certain situations by reflections between the rear lens element and the sensor. I made sure that the lens hood was extracted and that there was no issue with scattered light.

My assumption so far is, that some kind of reduction of the image circle (as this lens is designed for full a frame sensor) could help to avoid the contrast issue on the NEX. It could look similar to this:

During the next weeks I will keep an eye on it what causes this loss of contrast and what may help here. Please keep in mind that this is a pre production prototype until now. So far I would not trade in a Notilux (if I owned one by myself) but if budget plays a role, the decision would be clear already now. So please do not take this as a final valuation, as comparison also in different situations would have to be taken into account.

I am planning an "Adorable Fifties" workshop in Hamburg in May 13th 2012 during the celebration of the birthday of Hamburg's harbour. We will have daylight and available light comparison shootings wit models in nice locations. If you are interested in participating and can contribute some adorable 50mm lenses as well, please mail to info(at)3d-kraft.com.